DOCSLIB.ORG

Bankiq~ Monthly Magazine~ February 2019

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bankiq~ Monthly Magazine~ February 2019 www.bankiq.in February 2019 � TOPPER'S TALK 11ii11 BANKING AWARENESS f IN'DIA 6 THE WORLD 11 TAXATION ,�-.; CURRENT AFFAIRS e PRACTICE MCQ's BANKIQ.IN FEBRUARY 2019 INDEX TOPPER’S TALK (1-2) 1) Banking & Financial Awareness (3-6) 2) Taxation (7-9) 3) Agriculture 10 4) Industry (11-13) 5) Infrastructure (14-15) 6) External Sector (16) 7) International Aairs 17 8) India and the World (18-22) 9) Polity & Governance (23-25) 10)Appointments & Resignations (26-28) 11) Reports & Indices (29-30) 12) Miscellaneous (31-32) 13) Interim Budget 2019 (33-34) PRACTICE CURRENT AFFAIRS MCQ’S 1) Banking & Financial Awareness (35-36) 2) Agriculture 36 3) Appointments & Resignations (36-39) 4) Defence & Security (39-40) 5) External Sector (40-41) 6) Honours & Awards (41-44) 7) India & the World (44-45) 8) Industry (45-46) 9) Infrastructure 46 10) International Aairs (46-48) 11) Polity & Governance (48-51) 12) Reports & Indices (51-54) 13) Taxation (54-55) 14) Miscellaneous (55-61) SOLUTIONS CURRENT AFFAIRS MCQ’s 1) Banking & Financial Awareness (62-63) 2) Agriculture (63-64) 3) Appointments & Resignations (64-66) 4) Defence & Security (66-67) 5) External Sector (67-69) 6) Honours & Awards (69-72) 7) India & the World (72-73) 8) Industry 74 9) Infrastructure (75-76) 10) International Aairs (76-78) 11) Polity & Governance (78-82) 12) Reports & Indices (82-86) 13)Taxation 86 14) Miscellaneous (86-93) A STUDY IQ Initiative bankiq.in FEBRUARY 2019 TOPPERS’ TALK Hi, I am Shubham Chand, I have qualied SBI PO 2018 and I am from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. I have done my education from theMadan Mohan Malviya Institute of Technology, Gorakhpur, UP. The government sector provides us job security, respect in society and stability for the long run in life. I was placed in a company from my college but after talking to my seniors I came to know about the pros and cons of working in a private sector. Then I decided to prepare for the government examinations. Four months of preparation is enough to qualify a banking exam if and only if you have prepared whole-heartedly in those four years. I am a morning person hence like to study in the morning. I like to study those subjects in the morning in which we have to retain the things in our mind for the long term as our mind remains fresh in the morning. Subjects like General Awareness, English, and Vocabulary can be studied in the morning. Take rest for some time and do reasoning. Solve some puzzles and then switch to Quantitative Aptitude when your mind needs to think conceptually after studying the other two subjects from the beginning of the day. Four months of preparation is enough to qualify a banking exam if and only if you have prepared whole-heartedly in those four years. I am a morning person hence like to study in the morning. I like to study those subjects in the morning in which we have to retain the things in our mind for the long term as our mind remains fresh in the morning. Subjects like General Awareness, English, and Vocabulary can be studied in the morning. Take rest for some time and do reasoning. Solve some puzzles and then switch to Quantitative Aptitude when your mind needs to think conceptually after studying the other two subjects from the beginning of the day. There are three stages of banking exam. Stage 1 is prelims and stage 2 is mains followed by an interview for the post of PO. For prelims, I used to select good questions from each chapter in each section from books then used to solve these questions in 20 minutes from each subject.Solve a maximum number of quizzes as it will help you to increase your speed which is necessary to qualify prelims. In Reasoning, I used to solve puzzles rst to score good marks as one puzzle fetches you ve marks. After solving puzzles I used to do the rest of the questions. In English, please start developing reading habits as English needs reading skills. For this, you can practice Reading Comprehensions, read The Hindu newspaper; The Economic Times as reading newspapers not only improves your reading skills but also makes you aware of the nancial news and improves vocabulary.For Grammar, refer any basic English grammar book like Wren Martin, and start applying rules in dierent questions to memorize them. For mains, do not rely on short tricks in the quantitative aptitude section as the mains exam consists of questions that need a clear concept to solve them. The concepts are very important for doing the quant section of the mains exam. The logical reasoning section checks how much a candidate is logically sound and can think of dierent ways to solve a puzzle. For English, follow the same procedureas of prelims and take a calculative risk by using the method of elimination to solve the questions whose answers you don’t know. For GeneralAwareness, I used to watch the current aairs video of GauravGarg sir from Study IQ as it covers static awareness also in addition to the current aairs and banking awareness. What you can do is write down the news and revise it for a minimum of 10 days in the morning. Practice Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning sets by TarunJha sir if you are in search of the best quality questions for the mains exam. Page 1 STUDY IQ bankiq.in FEBRUARY 2019 For Interview, dress up in formals. The nancial news of the current is very important for the interview. You can’t simply answer yes or no in an interview but you have to give your opinion, your thoughts about the questions asked by the interviewer. I used to watch The Hindu Analysis by PrashantMavani sir daily as it helps us in making opinions for dierent topics that can be discussed in the interview and which helps us in GD as well. At last, I would say, prepare very well for GA as it is the deciding factor in qualifying the exam. Watch current aairs video by GauravGarg sir as many times as you can for memorizing them. If you managed to score 30 marks out of 40 then no one can stop you from taking the nal selection. Finally, I want to thank the Study IQ team for giving me a platform to express my viewsand thoughts. I am highly obliged to be here as this institution has given me a lot because the exams I cleared is due to GA and Study IQ has played an important role in making my GA so strong. Thanks to GauravGarg sir and PrashantMavani sir. Thanks to Study IQ. Page 2 STUDY IQ bankiq.in FEBRUARY 2019 State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Rajnish Kumar Banking & favours Direct Benet Transfers (DBT) for farmers instead of farm loan waivers. According to him, we are in the last leg of loan waivers in India. ”If the Central government and state government’s resources are combined, we can ensure income support Financial for farmers,” he said. The SBI chief was speaking on the sidelines of the bank’s event to present ‘Yono SBI 20 under Twenty’ Awards for young achievers under the age of 20 across elds Awareness including sport, performing arts, literature etc. “The bank will extend its digital banking platform YONO to assist farmers with inputs on climate, seeds, fertilisers and pesticides, information on prices through ‘YonoKrish’ that will be launched by April 2019”, said Mr Kumar at a press conference. Farmers can also apply for agricultural gold loans and open bank accounts digitally using the platform, which will serve as an online marketplace, he added. RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is going to take important decisions in the meeting to be held in February 2019. For the rst time, RBI is getting its half-yearly balance According to Economists, the budget is inationary in nature. sheet audited to determine the amount of interim As a result, there are chances of rate cuts. dividend it can give the central government. The government has registered a decit of 3.4% of GDP in FY A concurrent audit of its accounts is done on a quarterly 2018-19 which was estimated to be at 3.3%. basis. For the next year (2019-20) also, the decit is projected at 3.4%, July-December 2018 period audit is underway. Soon deviating from the path to bring down the decit to 3% of GDP. Board of Directors will approve it. The CPI ination rate fell from 4.9% in April-May 2018 to 2.2% in The RBI is going to move towards ½ yearly audit December, due to disination in the food segment. regularly, apart from an annual audit of its nances to Brent crude oil is now trading at around $62 a barrel, down from determine the prots. $84 a barrel in September 2018. The RBI has set up a committee headed by its former Oil prices have remained a great uncertainty for the government governor BimalJalan in December to rework the and the RBI. ECONOMIC CAPITAL FRAMEWORK of the central bank to Keeping in mind the above scenario, a rate cut at this point of time determine the level of surplus the RBI should hold. would be meaningless. Interim dividend to the Centre would be based on the old framework for now. According to recommendations made by a committee The RBI has decidedto oer an interim dividend of Rs 28,000 crore led by Y H Malegam in 2014, the RBI can transfer its entire to the centre, driving up its total transfer in the current scal to surplus to the government without allocation to its Rs 68,000 crore.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Megastar: Chiranjeevi and Telugu Cinema After N T Ramo Rao/ S.V
    After NTR Telugu Mass Film and Cinematic Populism Tn the previous chapter, I discussed the critical importance of the •J. social history of the cinema hall. Now I will focus on films, which are, after all, the reason why the populace gathers before the screen. In my examination of the films of Chiranjeevi, I will ask if there is anything at all in these films that can give us insights into the 'excessive' responses we encountered in the previous chapter. While I have suggested that these responses are usefully located as cinephiliac, the task of demonstrating their relationship to the screen remains. In this chapter and the rest of the book, I examine the Telugu film 'genre' locally known as the mass film, which was, by far, the most influential and economically important genre in the Telugu film industry in the 1980s and 1990s. Chiranjeevi is closely identified with the mass film but all other major Telugu stars of his generation featured in films of this genre. The mass film is useful for opening up the question of how the cinema may be political. This question will be an important focus of my discussion of the genre. Furthermore, in the mid-1990s the mass film and its stars became a part of a major crisis in the Telugu film industry. The crisis was, in part, a result of the collapse of the mass film, as also its past success. The examination of the mass film allows us to see how populism and blockage dovetail and in turn implicate Telugu cinema's superstars.
    [Show full text]
  • Hong Kong Action Film in the Indian B Circuit
    Itttcr-Asiti Cultural Studies, Volume -I, Number I, 20iM (.LfO-t>P.p) R Roulledge Hong Kong action film in the Indian B circuit S. V. SRINIVAS Introduction This paper looks at the circulation of Hong Kong martial arts and action films in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, and seeks to examine the relationship between the cinema's public and its designated industrial status in India. Andhra Pradesh houses the Telugu film industry, the second largest (after Hindi) in India, and also, and important for this paper, has the largest domestic market for Hong Kong films.1 As with the rest of India, and perhaps many other parts of the world, the success of Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon (Robert Clouse, 1973), released across the state between 1976 and the early 1980s, is where the story begins. Within a few years a new generation of male Telugu film stars began to perform their own stunts in action sequences that were clearly modelled on Hong Kong films. Notable among these are Chiranjeevi, Suman and Arjun. Indeed, even the more senior N. T. Rama Rao, who started his career in the late 1940s but was still very popular in the late 1970s, had to bow to this trend when he played the role of a martial arts expert in Yugapurushudu (K. Bapaiah, 1978). In other responses, the Telugu industry tried to invent a local martial arts tradition mobilized to fight feudal oppression (for example Sivudu, Sivudu, Sivudu, A. Kodandarami Reddy, 1983). In the wake of the popularity of female action stars from Hong Kong, the Telugu female vigilante film emerged as a distinct genre in the 1990s.
    [Show full text]
  • February 2019
    oliveboard February 2019 Monthly Current Affairs CLICK HERE TO PREPARE FOR IBPS, SSC, SBI, RAILWAYS & RBI EXAMS IN ONE PLACE Bolt is a series of GK Summary ebooks by Oliveboard for quick revision oliveboard.in www.oliveboard.in Table of Contents Banking .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Insurance .......................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Economy ............................................................................................................................................................................ 8 State .................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 National ........................................................................................................................................................................... 13 International................................................................................................................................................................. 18 India & world................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Appointments & Resignations ...........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Current Affairs 24 & 25Th Feb 2019 Winmeen.Com Page 1 of 3
    Current Affairs 24 & 25th Feb 2019 Winmeen Daily Current Affairs understanding of the risks posed by terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Jamat- 1. Which city is the venue of the ET Global Business ud-Dawa and others. Pakistan has until October Summit 2019? 2019 to either comply with the demands made by FATF members or it could be blacklisted. A. New Delhi The FATF has asked Pakistan to swiftly complete its B. Hyderabad action plan that includes showing sanctions were C. Jaipur being applied in cases of money laundering and D. Nagpur terrorism financing. It also has to demonstrate In New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi better cooperation between authorities, identify addressed the 5th edition of the Economic Times (ET) illegal money flows, and enhance support for Global Business Summit 2019 on Feb 23 to offer prosecutors, among other measures. Terror outfit insights into the direction of future policy. The two- Jaish-e-Mohammad had claimed responsibility for day summit hosted business leaders and technology the Pulwama attack. Iran and North Korea are entrepreneurs from some of the most talked about currently blacklisted. and disruptive companies across the globe including Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of 3. Who has been sworn-in as the first Lokayukta of AirBnB, Martin Eberhard co-founder of Tesla, Nagaland? Sebastian Thrun CEO of KittyHawk and many more. The summit is a flagship initiative of the Times A. K M Munshi Group that envisions to bring together visionaries, B. Uma Nath Singh thought leaders, heads of state, policy makers, C. Raghuveer Singh academicians and corporate heads cohesively D.
    [Show full text]
  • K Movies Telugu 2019
    K movies telugu 2019 Continue Wikimedia Article Telugu Cinema (Tollywood) 1930s 1940s 1940 1941 1942 19441945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950s 1950s 1950 1951 1952 1953 11954195 5 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960s 1960 1961 1962 1963 19641965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970s 1970s 197 0 1971 1972 1973 1973 1973 197397741975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1980 1981 1982 1983 1983 1988 1983 198841985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990-1990 1990 1991 1992 1992 1992 1992993 199995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000s 2000 20001 2002 2003 20042005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010s 2010s 2010 2010 2011 0 20110 2012 2013 20142015 2016 2017 2018 2020s 2020 vte This is a list of films released or scheduled for release in 2019. The box office collection of Tollywood's highest-grossing films, released in 2019, is at the box office worldwide following. The world's highest gross 2019 Rank Title Manufacturing Company Worldwide Gross Ref 1 Saaho UV CreationsT-Series ₹432.4 crore (US$61 million) Narasimha Reddy Conidel Producing Company ₹250 Crore (35 million). 3 Maharshi Sri Venkateswara CreationVyjayanthi MoviesPVP Cinema ₹200 crore (28 million US$4 F2 - Fun and Disappointment Sri Venkateswara Creations ₹137.6 Crore (US$19 million) 5 Vinaya Vidheya Rama DVV Entertainment ₹97.9 crore (US$14 million) Jagannadh Touring Talkies ₹83 Crore ($12 million) 7 Venky Mama Suresh ProductionsPeople's Media Factory ₹72 Crore ($10 million) 8 Majili Glitter Screens ₹70 Crore (9.8 million U.S. dollars) ₹65 crore (9.1 million U.S. dollars) 10 Gaddalakonda Ganesh 14 reels plus ₹42.5 crore (6.0 million U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Sankranti & Telugu Cinema Among the Plethora of Conversations I Have
    Writertainment.com Sankranti & Telugu Cinema Among the plethora of conversations I have had with my grandmother, the most fascinating of the lot encircled cinema. Growing up in Andhra Pradesh in the 50s and 60s meant that cinema-viewing was an event that required proper planning and execution to ensure everything sails smoothly. Grandma recalls how important it was to schedule the bullock cart well in advance for commuting to the theatre, so it wouldn't clash with the farming activities. From the 50s to the 70s, Nandamuri Tarakarama Ramarao (NTR) and Akkineni Nageshwar Rao (ANR) maintained their hegemony with a dozen credits each to their filmography year on year. Although film-watching had become comparatively accessible by the 70s, thanks to the sprouting number of movie theatres and expansion of public transport, the release of a film, especially an NTR film, was still a highly awaited event. With a new film every month, the star's fans had a monthly event to rejoice. Over the years, the number of movie theatres burgeoned; new stars emerged; VCR and DVD have gained prominence and swiftly faded-out; the number of single screens plunged; multiplex culture soared, internet penetrated every corner of the nation; torrents widened our viewing taste; the yardstick of blockbuster changed from 200 days to 200 crores; and OTT eased everything associated with movie-viewing. A film made before the birth of our grand-parents is now a 'search' away. There has been no better time to procure a film in the ever-evolving world. But in the age of wide-spread accessibility, perhaps we have let go of its value.
    [Show full text]
  • Government of Andhra Pradesh Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty 2Nd Floor, NTR Administrative Block, PNBS, Vijayawada – 520013, Andhra Pradesh
    Government of Andhra Pradesh Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty 2nd Floor, NTR Administrative Block, PNBS, Vijayawada – 520013, Andhra Pradesh __________________________________________________________________________ Proceedings of the Chief Executive Officer Present: Dr. P Krishna Mohan Ph.D. Proc. No.16022-8-SERP/SSU/Claims/2017 Date:20/12/2017 Sub:- SERP - Implementation of Chandranna Bima -Settlement of Claims by LIC of India- Funds transfer to concerned Nominee accounts and Refund of Rs 5,000 to ZS amounting to Rs 839795833.00– Orders Issued. Ref:- 1.Data Updated in the chandranna Bima website by LIC of India 2. Claim Amount credited into CEO, SERP, AABY SB Account, Labbipet branch. **** LIC of India has processed the death claims under Chandranna Bima and updated the settled claim details in www.chandrannabima.ap.gov.in web portal. LIC has transferred the claim amount to the CEO, SERP, AABY SB Account maintaining in SBI, labbipet Branch and the claim amount reconciled with the claims data uploaded by the LIC. Amount Credited in Voucher Number of Date of Credit into the CEO,AP SERP Voucher Date Bank Transaction Description Number Claims the SERP Account AABY A/C 37028084613 2005 11/10/2017 92017101305240006 1 13/10/2017 30000 235 30/11/2017 ICICR52017120100254310-4 13 01/12/2017 390000 237 06/12/2017 ICICR52017120700793949-6 7 07/12/2017 245833 243 11/12/2017 0000103*000037133919*C 3943 14/12/2017 788600000 245 12/12/2017 0000103*000037133919-2* 251 14/12/2017 50200000 249 12/12/2017 0006306*000037126915-2* 1 14/12/2017 30000 0000524*000018333514-3IC 3232 08/11/2017 1 14/11/2017 30000 O 0000524*000018333514-7IC 3274 09/11/2017 1 14/11/2017 30000 O 0000524*000021398472IC 4363 01/12/2017 3 05/12/2017 90000 OF 0000524*000022045690IC 4443 04/12/2017 1 11/12/2017 30000 OF 0000524*000022044896-4IC 4538 05/12/2017 1 11/12/2017 30000 O 0000524*000022403222-1IC 4603 06/12/2017 2 11/12/2017 60000 O 0000524*000022377448IC 4639 07/12/2017 1 11/12/2017 30000 OF Zilla Samakhya Insurance Call Centres have uploaded the nominee SB Accounts and confirmed the Rs.
    [Show full text]
  • Popular Cinema, Religion and Politics in South India Uma Maheswari Bhrugubanda Submitted In
    Genealogies of the Citizen-Devotee: Popular Cinema, Religion and Politics in South India Uma Maheswari Bhrugubanda Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree Of Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2011 © 2011 Uma Maheswari Bhrugubanda All Rights Reserved Abstract Genealogies of the Citizen-Devotee: Popular Cinema, Religion and Politics in South India Uma Maheswari Bhrugubanda This dissertation is a genealogical study of the intersections between popular cinema, popular religion and politics in South India. It proceeds with a particular focus on the discursive field of Telugu cinema as well as religion and politics in the state of Andhra Pradesh from roughly the 1950s to the 2000s. Telugu cinema continued to produce mythological and devotional films based mostly on Hindu myths and legends many decades after they ceased to be major genres in Hindi and many other Indian languages. This was initially seen simply as an example of the insufficiently modernized and secularized nature of the South Indian public, and of the enduring nature of Indian religiosity. However, these films acquired an even greater notoriety later. In 1982, N.T. Rama Rao, a film star who starred in the roles of Hindu gods like Rama and Krishna in many mythologicals set up a political party, contested and won elections, and became the Chief Minister of the state, all in the space of a year. For many political and social commentators this whirlwind success could only be explained by the power of his cinematic image as god and hero! The films thus came to be seen as major contributing factors in the unusual and undesirable alliance between cinema, religion and politics.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Ammoru Songs
    Download ammoru songs LINK TO DOWNLOAD Ammoru is a Telugu album released on Oct This album is composed by Sri. Ammoru Album has 6 songs sung by K. S. Chithra. Listen to all songs in high quality & download Ammoru songs . Ammoru Songs - Download Ammoru mp3 songs to your Hungama account. Get the complete list of Ammoru mp3 songs free online. Find the best place to Ammoru movie songs download list. Download Hungama Music app to get access to unlimited free mp3 songs, free movies, latest music videos, online radio, new TV shows and much more at Hungama. Ammoru Maathalli song by K. S. Chithra now on JioSaavn. Telugu music album Ammoru. Download song or listen online free, only on renuzap.podarokideal.ru Duration: 3 min. Amma Ammoru MP3 Song by Rahul Sipligunj from the Telugu movie Shambo Shankara. Download Amma Ammoru song on renuzap.podarokideal.ru and listen Shambo Shankara Amma Ammoru song offline. Download Amma Ammoru song on renuzap.podarokideal.ru and listen Pakka Local Hits Of Rahul Sipligunj Amma Ammoru song offline. Play Amma Ammoru Song by Rahul Sipligunj from the Telugu album Pakka Local Hits Of Rahul Sipligunj. Listen Amma Ammoru song online free on renuzap.podarokideal.ru The movie Ammoru was released on May (). Listen Ammoru Maathalli song & download all mp3 Ammoru songs from Hungama. Download Hungama Music app to get access to unlimited free songs, free movies, latest music videos, online radio, new TV shows and much more at Hungama. Listen to Ammoru songs Online on JioSaavn. Telugu music album by K. S. Chithra 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Vigilantism and the Pleasures of Masquerade: the Female
    INDIAN CINEMA AND THE URBAN EXPERIENCE EDITED BY PREBEN KAARSHOLM rB O O M % LONDON NEW YORK CALCUTTA CONTENTS vn Acknowledgements 1 I'RF.HKN KAARSIIOI.M: Introduction Unreal (lily: Cinematic Representation, Globalization and the Ambiguities of Metropolitan Life 26 l'KTKR l.ARSKN Urban Legends: Notes on a Theme in Early Film Theory Seagull Books Editorial offices: 40 1st Floor, Angel Court, 81 Si Clements Street, MOINAK BISWAS Oxford OX4 I AW, UK The City and the Real: Chhinnamul and i Washington Square Village, Apt HI, New York, the Left Cultural Movement in the 1940s NY 10012, USA 26 Circus Avenue, Calcutta 700 017, India 60 SUDIITA KAVIRAJ Seagull Books 2007 Reading a Song of the City— Images of the City in Literature and Films 1 his collection © Seagull Books 2004; individual pieces with the authors. This volume is a revised and updated version ol Occasional Paper Number 22 82 published by International Development Studies, Roskilde University, 2002. M, MADIIAVA I'RASAI) Realism and Fantasy in Representations of ISBN 1 9054 2 2,'Ui 9 Metropolitan Life iti Indian Cinema British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record (or this book is available from the British Library 99 MARTIN ZKRI.ANG Typeset by Seagull Books, Calcutta, India Printed in the United Kingdom by Biddies Ltd, Kings Lynn A CIosc-Up on Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children References VIGILANTLSM AND THE PLEASURES OF MASQUERADE Ghosh, Shohini (2001), 'Streets of Terror: Urban Anxieties in the THE FEMALE SPECTATOR OF VIJAYASANTHI FILMS Bombay Cinema of the 1990s', Paper presented to the workshop 'The Exhilaration of Dread', Sarai, 29 November-1 December.
    [Show full text]
  • 24Th February 2019 Current Affairs
    24th February 2019 Current Affairs 1. Saudi Arabia appoints a first female ambassador to the United States Saudi Arabia has appointed Princess Reema bint Bandar, a former business executive, and philanthropist, as its first female ambassador to the United States. She replaced Prince Khalid bin Salman, amid fallout over journalist Khashoggi’s murder. She has been a leading advocate of female empowerment in the kingdom. 2. Cobra Gold Military Exercises held in Thailand Thailand and the United States hosted the annual Cobra Gold military exercise, the biggest activity of its type in the Asia-Pacific region with 29 nations taking part as participants or observers. Apart from the 2 countries, 7 countries who participated in the exercise were India, Singapore, Japan, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea. 3. Digital India Awards conferred for Excellence in Web Space The Digital India Awards have been instituted under the ambit of the National Portal of India by National Informatics Centre, MeitY, to promote exemplary initiatives in e-governance using the medium of World Wide Web. Hon’ble Minister of Electronics & IT, Law & Justice Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad conferred ‘Digital India Awards 2018′ in an exclusive ceremony. 4. Bihar becomes the 1st State to Deploy Dog Squad to Check Liquor Smuggling Bihar has become the first state to deploy specially-trained dogs to check smuggling of liquor which continues to take place in spite of the total ban imposed in the state for the last 3 years. 20 liquor-tracker dogs were trained rigorously for nine months in Hyderabad, Telangana. 5. Apurvi wins gold at shooting World Cup Apurvi Chandela won the first gold for India at the ISSF World Cup by finishing on top of the women’s 10 meter Air Rifle category in New Delhi.
    [Show full text]
  • Rajinikanth and the “Regional Blockbuster”
    Rajinikanth and the “Regional Blockbuster” * S. V. Srinivas Introduction In the recent past, Tamil and Telugu films have managed to find aud- iences beyond the southern region and have also competed with the biggest Hindi films in Hindi cinema’s traditional markets in northern and western India. A subset of these films are big-budget spectaculars, which I would like to call regional blockbusters. This term flags the critical import- ance of developments in the south Indian region and film industries for the emergence of relatively new production and narrative regimes which raise interesting questions of value—of films as commodities and stars alike.1 In the pages that follow, I trace the evolution of this form to argue that it is symptomatic of a fundamental transformation of industrial- political logics of south Indian cinemas, whose most visible manifest- ations so far have been the star politician and fan clubs. I propose that Rajinikanth is a useful point of entry into the discussion of the regional blockbuster because he belongs to a small number of Indian superstars who were a part of the very problem that the blockbuster attempts to overcome and, at the same time, a valuable asset for it. By tracking the career of Rajinikanth, I propose to show how crucial this star in par- ticular, but also the south Indian star vehicle known as the “mass film,” is the condition of possibility for a form that may or may not use major stars. The paper is divided into two parts. The first elaborates on the blockbuster as a descriptive-analytical category and shows why it is use- fully seen not just as a global form but also a regional phenomenon, pred- icated on locally specific historical contingencies as well industrial-aes- thetic practices.
    [Show full text]